Somewhere in Aveh Desert
Sand everywhere, glistening a dull golden shade like well-burnished copper. Wind tore at the
tops of the sculpted dunes, collapsing the crests of the frozen waves of earth through steady attrition and
effort. Silently, in the trough of silty grit between two monstrous dunes, the traveller continued walking.
Pausing it looked up at something in the distance, resolving into a massive jagged post of stone that
towered above the rest of the desert by a good three hundred feet.
The traveller paused at the base of the stone pillar, sensing something in the area. Faintly, the
metallic tang of rusting metal passed through the area, the source of the scent being a half-buried flange
of darkened steel. The traveller paused for a second, looking at the metal, then grabbed the piece and
lifted upwards, revealing the metal to be a heavy knee pauldron and actuator base unit for a combat
gear.
The form examined the ruined piece of metal, seemingly remembering something, then dropped
the pauldron onto the sand, turned and headed towards the southeast. Slowly, the sands began to reclaim
its prize, while the traveller soon came across the walls of a tiny village. At most, only a hundred people
lived within the enclosure of the stone walls of the village, and about half that were children. Everyone
outside stopped and stared as the traveller entered the village, heading unerringly towards the Inn.
One child, a young girl with dull ash-blonde hair, was playing in front of the traveller, when she
tripped and fell. Though the traveller was nearly ten feet away, everyone watching swore that they saw
a tanned arm flash outwards, prevented the girl from falling onto the hard sand, and disappeared as
quickly as it had appeared. The little girl just stood there, staring at the traveller's face, of which only
the mouth could be seen from the shadows the cloak's hood threw over the person.
The traveller smiled, almost as if remembering something, then entered the Inn. Inside, several
people sat at a table, talking quietly amongst themselves until the traveller entered the building. They
instantly shut up, the traveller silently moving past the four men to stand in front of the innkeeper. A few
whispered words, and a muffled passing of coins were all the noise in the suddenly silent room, followed
by the clink and jangle of keys as the innkeeper passed over a room key for the traveller, pulling it off
of a chain of twelve identical ones.
The traveller only nodded, picking up the key before making the small metal object disappear
into the folds of the cloak. Then the traveller spoke, its voice flat and harsh in the silence of the room.
"Wake at dawn. I leave soon."
The voice was harsh and scratchy, sounding as if somebody had tried to kill the traveller by
strangling, but only damaged the vocal chords to a severe degree. The four men all glanced at each other
as the traveller walked upstairs, barely making a sound on the notoriously creaky steps. The men then
turned to the Innkeeper, who simply smiled and showed a hand filled with gold coins. The four men
nodded, then resumed their muffled conversation.
Upstairs, the traveller simply closed the door, sitting on the bed for a moment before laying
down flat for the first time in a while. Pausing for a second, the traveller extended an arm to the door,
locking it before doing something to the lock. A thin rasping noise filled the room, then quieted down
as the traveller closed its eyes. Twenty minutes later, a faint scraping echoed through the room, followed
by a muffled curse from the other side of the door. Two voices whispered harshly from just outside of
the room, and seemed to come to a consensus.
A few moments later, the door was smashed inwards, and the two burly men that had forcefully
opened the door found themselves staring at a young woman, who was sitting on the bed and using her
fingers to comb her hair. Almost before the men could speak, or even blink, the larger of the two was
suddenly and forcefully hurled into the opposite door, five sharp spines piercing his clothes at armpit,
knee and groin. He was not harmed, but the spines were close enough to be excessively dangerous. The
second man, a bit smaller than the first, looked again at the woman, who looked calmly back at him.
Her left hand was extended, and the five spines that had his friend pinned to the wall were the woman's
fingers.
Her right hand was still combing her hair away from her face, revealing the pools of liquid gold
that were her eyes. The second man, wondering what to do, finally decided to attack the woman, even
though he was a good seven feet away from her. In a flash, the fight ended, with the man ending heels
over head as he was forcefully rolled into the wall next to his friend. The woman stood up, letting her
left hand reform itself into a normal configuration as she walked towards the two still-conscious men.
kneeling in front of each man, she smiled slightly, barely an upturned quirk, then slapped both men,
hard.
"That for trying to steal money. Leave me alone. Or die. Your choice." The men nodded, and
watched the woman return to her room. Sitting on the bed, she continued to comb her hair, apparently
remembering a time when someone else would do that, and smiling slightly as a result. The night passed
slowly, and nobody who heard of the confrontation slept easily.
Sand everywhere, glistening a dull golden shade like well-burnished copper. Wind tore at the
tops of the sculpted dunes, collapsing the crests of the frozen waves of earth through steady attrition and
effort. Silently, in the trough of silty grit between two monstrous dunes, the traveller continued walking.
Pausing it looked up at something in the distance, resolving into a massive jagged post of stone that
towered above the rest of the desert by a good three hundred feet.
The traveller paused at the base of the stone pillar, sensing something in the area. Faintly, the
metallic tang of rusting metal passed through the area, the source of the scent being a half-buried flange
of darkened steel. The traveller paused for a second, looking at the metal, then grabbed the piece and
lifted upwards, revealing the metal to be a heavy knee pauldron and actuator base unit for a combat
gear.
The form examined the ruined piece of metal, seemingly remembering something, then dropped
the pauldron onto the sand, turned and headed towards the southeast. Slowly, the sands began to reclaim
its prize, while the traveller soon came across the walls of a tiny village. At most, only a hundred people
lived within the enclosure of the stone walls of the village, and about half that were children. Everyone
outside stopped and stared as the traveller entered the village, heading unerringly towards the Inn.
One child, a young girl with dull ash-blonde hair, was playing in front of the traveller, when she
tripped and fell. Though the traveller was nearly ten feet away, everyone watching swore that they saw
a tanned arm flash outwards, prevented the girl from falling onto the hard sand, and disappeared as
quickly as it had appeared. The little girl just stood there, staring at the traveller's face, of which only
the mouth could be seen from the shadows the cloak's hood threw over the person.
The traveller smiled, almost as if remembering something, then entered the Inn. Inside, several
people sat at a table, talking quietly amongst themselves until the traveller entered the building. They
instantly shut up, the traveller silently moving past the four men to stand in front of the innkeeper. A few
whispered words, and a muffled passing of coins were all the noise in the suddenly silent room, followed
by the clink and jangle of keys as the innkeeper passed over a room key for the traveller, pulling it off
of a chain of twelve identical ones.
The traveller only nodded, picking up the key before making the small metal object disappear
into the folds of the cloak. Then the traveller spoke, its voice flat and harsh in the silence of the room.
"Wake at dawn. I leave soon."
The voice was harsh and scratchy, sounding as if somebody had tried to kill the traveller by
strangling, but only damaged the vocal chords to a severe degree. The four men all glanced at each other
as the traveller walked upstairs, barely making a sound on the notoriously creaky steps. The men then
turned to the Innkeeper, who simply smiled and showed a hand filled with gold coins. The four men
nodded, then resumed their muffled conversation.
Upstairs, the traveller simply closed the door, sitting on the bed for a moment before laying
down flat for the first time in a while. Pausing for a second, the traveller extended an arm to the door,
locking it before doing something to the lock. A thin rasping noise filled the room, then quieted down
as the traveller closed its eyes. Twenty minutes later, a faint scraping echoed through the room, followed
by a muffled curse from the other side of the door. Two voices whispered harshly from just outside of
the room, and seemed to come to a consensus.
A few moments later, the door was smashed inwards, and the two burly men that had forcefully
opened the door found themselves staring at a young woman, who was sitting on the bed and using her
fingers to comb her hair. Almost before the men could speak, or even blink, the larger of the two was
suddenly and forcefully hurled into the opposite door, five sharp spines piercing his clothes at armpit,
knee and groin. He was not harmed, but the spines were close enough to be excessively dangerous. The
second man, a bit smaller than the first, looked again at the woman, who looked calmly back at him.
Her left hand was extended, and the five spines that had his friend pinned to the wall were the woman's
fingers.
Her right hand was still combing her hair away from her face, revealing the pools of liquid gold
that were her eyes. The second man, wondering what to do, finally decided to attack the woman, even
though he was a good seven feet away from her. In a flash, the fight ended, with the man ending heels
over head as he was forcefully rolled into the wall next to his friend. The woman stood up, letting her
left hand reform itself into a normal configuration as she walked towards the two still-conscious men.
kneeling in front of each man, she smiled slightly, barely an upturned quirk, then slapped both men,
hard.
"That for trying to steal money. Leave me alone. Or die. Your choice." The men nodded, and
watched the woman return to her room. Sitting on the bed, she continued to comb her hair, apparently
remembering a time when someone else would do that, and smiling slightly as a result. The night passed
slowly, and nobody who heard of the confrontation slept easily.